The Hand Rocks the Cradle
by Barbie's Evil Cousin
Summary: Her parents were killed by Drusilla, and now five year old Gwen Maxwell, has been left on the doorstep of Xander, what does he do?
1. Prologue

A/N: My second Buffy Fic! Please Review!! I know it's short, but I'm working on it!  
  
Disclaimer: I own James, Sarah, Jack and Gwen, no one else, they all belong to Joss.  
  
The Hand Rocked the Cradle  
Prelude  
  
"James, I'm pregnant," said Sarah, his nineteen year old girlfriend.  
  
"Sarah! That's great! Will you marry me?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Sarah's blue eyes filled with happy tears, her blonde hair blowing in the breeze. James hugged her, and kissed her. They were married ten months later, with their son, Jack Lyon, with them. They never planned on having another child, until one day, twelve years later, Sarah became pregnant again, this time it was a girl, they named her Gwenivere Marie.   
  
Five years and three months later, Sarah had Gwen out in the back yard when the house caught fire, while Jack and his father were trapped inside Sarah ran back inside, leaving the child alone. No one ever came back out of that house. A while later, a man picked Gwen up, and then gave her to another man who put her in a car, with blankets and food, and took her to Sunnydale, California. When he got there, he took a cab to an appartment complex, then took the child up to the door of 136 B, sat her on the mat, asleep, with her few things, in front of the door, rang the doorbell and left. 


	2. Chapter 1

A/N: I don't know if I'll continue this one, I need at least 5 reviews to get me to continue!!!  
  
The Hand Rocked the Cradle  
Chapter 1  
  
  
Anya opened the door.   
  
"Hello? What? We're busy. Oh-- Xander, come here. What is that?" she said.  
  
He came up behind her and looked at the sad puppy-dog face he was being given by a girl with big blue eyes.  
  
"That's a kid, let's go back to bed." He turned then realized what he had just said, then turned to face the girl. "A KID?!?"  
  
"That's what you said."  
  
He picked up the suitcase and led Gwen inside. There was a note, he picked it up and read it.  
  
"'Dear Mister Xander Harris. We regret to inform you that yesterday afternoon your aunt, uncle, and cousin were killed in a deathly fire. This little one; Gwenivere Marie Maxwell was outside in the yard when the fire occurred, therefore, surviving. As you are her only living relative in the United States, we hope you will take good care of her. Thank you, Mister Horace Jones, Social Services.' Uh-oh. Anya, we're in trouble," said Xander, to his fiancee, who was playing with Gwen, until Gwen began to cry.  
  
"I'm calling Social Services, or whatever, and telling them to take it back!"  
  
"You can't! That's my cousin!"  
  
"Oh. Well, Giles'll know what to do."  
  
"True, let's go."  
  
Gwen stopped crying.  
  
"Xan'er? You won't let dem take me again will you? Dat man yewed at me da whowe way hewe," said Gwen, quietly.  
  
"No, but I don't know what to do with you. I can't keep you, I don't know anything about kids, and we don't have enough money, do you understand?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"I undewstand, I undewstad dat you don't wuv me," she sniffed and burst into tears.  
  
"I do love you, I really do, that's why I'm going to see what I can do to keep you out of an orphanage, and in Sunnydale."  
  
She nodded, and Xander and Anya got dressed, took Gwen, and headed toward Giles' house. Then they just walked in, and found Giles, who was just waking up.  
  
"What the-- here a bit early, aren't you?" he asked them.  
  
  
"Take it," said Anya.  
  
"Take what?"   
  
He looked at the small girl, hiding behind Xander, her black locks sticking close her head.  
  
"Don't 'take it', just tell us what to do," said Xander.  
  
"I honestly don't know, I'm not a mother, you'd have to ask one."  
  
"Joyce," said Xander and Anya at the same time.  
  
They turned and left, after thanking Giles for helping them out, even if he didn't do anything. They went over to the Summers' home, and knocked. A very tired- looking Buffy opened the door.  
  
"We need help!!" shouted Anya.  
  
"Okay, don't wig, just come in," said Buffy.  
  
She let them in and went into the kitchen where Joyce was making breakfast.  
  
"Morning Xander, Anya," said Joyce, cheerfully.  
  
"Morning, Buffy's mom," said Xander.  
  
"What do you guys need help with? Demons, vampires, prophecies, magic, weird stuff? Go to Giles," said Buffy.  
  
"This is weird, but we were all ready over there, and he said that he wasn't a mother," said Anya.  
  
Buffy looked up.  
  
"Why would he say that? I'll bet that didn't help."  
  
"Yes it did, so we came to see you Joyce," said Xander, setting Gwen on his lap.  
  
"Oh," said Joyce and Buffy at the same time.  
  
Xander explained. By the end, Joyce and Buffy had given her ice cream and candy, even if it was seven in the morning.  
  
"We can't keep her, we can barely take care of ourselves, and each other, much less a little girl," said Xander.  
  
Joyce nodded, she was becoming paler every day, more depressed every minute and weaker every second, Buffy was trying to keep her well, but it was useless, she couldn't. A new addition might be just what they needed to keep everyone on their toes, and bring some joy into the Summers household. Buffy and Joyce looked at each other and nodded, silently agreeing.  
  
"We'll keep her. We need a new, non- dangerous challenge," said Joyce.  
  
Buffy laughed. Dawn came stumbling into the kitchen, sleepily.  
  
"Dawn, we've got a little girl!" said Buffy.  
  
"A what?"  
  
"A little girl," repeated Buffy.  
  
"What's her name?" asked Dawn.  
  
"Gwenivere Marie Maxwell," said Xander.  
  
"Where did you get her?"  
  
"She came with the morning paper," said Anya.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
The next few days were spent making room for Gwen. The three Summers wanted pink for the room, a flowery border, and lots of stuffed animals, but Gwen had other plans. She wanted a blue room, and a cloud border, with glow- in- the- dark stars on the ceiling, and maybe a few stuffed animals. By the end of the week, it looked as if she had been there since the day she was born. The doorbell rang, and Buffy opened the door, Gwen, hiding behind her. It was Riley.  
  
"Hey Riley," said Buffy, inviting him in.  
  
"What's that?" he asked, referring to the eye peering out from behind Buffy  
  
"That's Gwenivere Marie, I love that name!"  
  
Riley looked at Buffy.  
  
"Buffy, what's going on?"  
  
"We adopted her from Xander, because he couldn't take care of her. Isn't she adorable?"  
  
He laughed, relived, and nodded.  
  
"Cute, I never would have believed she's related to Xander."  
  
"They're cousins, but he doesn't want her to hate him, so we're bringing her up as a Summers, it was Mom's idea, and Xander readily agreed to it. I think it's very mature of him to do this for Gwen. He's over here every day doing something for her."  
  
"That's nice of him. I just stopped by to tell you I was back."  
  
"Okay. Wanna eat dinner with us? It's almost ready."  
  
"No thanks, I'm gonna go back to Iowa for Thanksgiving, I'm leaving tomorrow."  
  
"Oh okay. Bye Riley."  
  
He leaned in to kiss her, but he didn't have the chance.   
  
"Buffy! Wet's go eat. I'm hungwy, and Spike says dat dere aw some scawy fings fow you tonight. I want you to be cawefuw. You need to eat so you stay stwong."  
  
Gwen grabbed Buffy's hand and pulled her toward the kitchen. Buffy looked at Gwen, shocked. For a five year old, Gwen was as strong as Buffy. Maybe even stronger. Riley left, an Buffy sat down next to Gwen. Later that night, when Buffy was patrolling, she ran into Spike.  
  
"Hey Spike," said Buffy.  
  
"Hey. How's the little bugger workin' out for ya?" he asked.  
  
"She's been the sweetest little Angel, tonight she acted really weird, as if she didn't want Riley near me. She clearly stated her dislike for him at dinner. She said he smelt of evil, except she pronounced her l's and r's as w's. She's so cute!"  
  
Spike laughed.  
  
"She is an adorable little thing, isn't she? I stopped by the other night and ran into her, not literally, she opened the door, very brave indeed. She opened up and said, 'You're a vampire. Your name is William, isn't it? You used to date Drusilla, didn't you? She's very, very, very bad you're not that bad, cuz of that chip in your head.' I asked who'd she been talking to, and she truthfully said, no one. Can you believe that?"  
  
"I can believe anything after she dragged me, almost literally, tonight to dinner. She's as strong as me," she whispered, as if someone was listening.  
  
Spike nodded.  
  
"You might want to ask Mr. Library."  
  
"Yeah, he's been very Watchery/ Fatherly/ Role modely lately. He's been teaching Gwen how to read. She loves it. Every now and then she'll call me or Dawn 'mommy', but then Mom tells her to call her 'mom' too, so we can be a family. She loves the idea, she told me last night when I came home that she's in love."  
  
"With who?"  
  
"That's what I asked. Then she blushed and wouldn't tell me. I even tried to tickle it out of her. She almost did, but then screamed 'Mommy, help me!' then Mom saved her from the tickler."  
  
"Sounds like fun," he said sadly.  
  
"Yeah. It is."  
  
Spike left, and Buffy eventually got into a few skirmishes with a few vampires, but nothing big. The next day, was Gwen's first day of school, but Joyce had a doctor's appointment, so Buffy took her. Gwen held Buffy's hand as they walked up to the Elementary school. When they got to the door, Gwen held Buffy's hand tighter.  
  
"I don't want to go," said Gwen.  
  
"You have to, or you'll end up like Xander, without a job, and no money," said Buffy.  
  
"Oh. Wew, den wiw you come wif me?"  
  
"To your classroom, but then I have to go to work."  
  
"Okay, Buffy. I don't want to be wike Xander, I want to be just wike you."  
  
"At this rate you will be. How did you know so much about Spike when you first met him?"  
  
"I wed dis book, it was a diary, I found it in da woods behind my owd house. I bwought it wif me, I'w give it back to Spike tonight, if he comes ovew. Okay?"  
  
"Okay. Well, here we are."  
  
Buffy opened the first grade classroom door, and Gwen refused to go in.  
  
"I don't want to."  
  
"C'mon Gwenny, you said you would."  
  
Gwen sighed, and Buffy kneeled down to Gwen's eye level.  
  
"I don't want to weave you, Buffy."  
"Just try it out, it might be fun, even more fun than hanging out with Xander and reading with Giles."  
  
"Okay. I'll twy it out."  
  
"Good. Ready?"  
  
Gwen took a deep breath and nodded.  
  
"I wuv you, Buffy."  
  
"I love you too, Gwenny."  
  
Buffy hugged Gwen, and Gwen turned to walk into her classroom, but stopped.  
  
"I'm newvus, I can't."  
  
Buffy took a box out of her pocket.  
  
"I thought you might need some prompting, so here."  
  
Gwen took the box, and opened it. It was a locket, she opened it, on one side it was a picture of Joyce, and the other was a picture of Dawn, Buffy, and Gwen, asleep, watching a movie.  
  
"I wuv it! Fank you Buffy!"  
  
Gwen hugged her. Buffy smiled and put the necklace on Gwen.  
  
"You're welcome, now that's your promise to me, that you'll go in there, and be brave and show everyone that you're really smart. Okay?"  
  
Gwen nodded.  
  
"Okay."  
  
Gwen turned and walked into the classroom, and waved goodbye to Buffy. Buffy got out her camera and took a picture of Gwen walking into the classroom. The teacher stepped out to talk to Buffy.  
"Miss Summers?"  
  
Buffy looked up.  
  
"Mrs. Miller?"  
  
"Yes. Is this you little girl?"  
  
"No. No, we adopted her, she's Xander Harris' little cousin. He couldn't take care of her, financial problems, and so we adopted her, he'll be here this afternoon to pick her up. Is that okay?"  
  
"Yes, I was wondering, how old is she?"  
  
"Five. Why?"  
  
"I'm not sure if she should be in first grade."  
  
"She's smart enough. I swear, she could be in High School, she's so smart. Mister Giles has been teaching her, she loves him."  
  
"Oh, well, I'll see how she does in class."  
  
"Oh, and just so you know, she's really shy, and kinda aloofy"  
  
"Kind of what?"  
  
"Aloofy, as in slightly aloof."  
  
"Oh, thank you Miss Summers."  
  
Mrs. Miller went back into the classroom and Buffy left the school, and headed straight to Giles' house. She walked in, and he looked up from his desk.  
  
"Hello, Buffy. What brings you here?"  
  
"It's Gwen."  
  
He stood up, worried.  
  
"Is she all right?"  
  
"She's fine, but she's giving me the major wig factor. I mean- she's as strong as me, almost as smart as Willow, and her memory is as good as yours, ands she's five."  
  
"Umm, well is there anything else?" he cleaned his glasses.  
  
"Oh yeah, and she smells good or evil. She 'smelt evil' on Riley last night. Or, at least, that's what she said."  
  
"Oh, well, here let me see." He looked through his books for a while, then found something. "Buffy, come here."  
  
She walked over to him.  
  
"What is it, Giles?"  
  
"I think she's a Mini- Slayer."  
  
"A what?"  
  
"A Mini- Slayer. She's a mix of the Slayer and the Slayers friends, or in our case--"  
  
"The Scoobies."  
  
"Precisely. She's Xander's cousin, as strong as you, smart as Willow, retentive as me--"  
  
"Powerful as Tara, knowing of good and evil like Spike, and smart alecy as Dawn."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"I hope she's not anything like Anya."  
  
Giles laughed.  
  
"Yes, I do hope not."  
  
"What does a Mini- Slayer do?"  
  
"I- I- I don't know. This has been the first one ever known. They're are prophecies about them, but none have ever actually existed, that anyone has ever known of at least."  
  
"Okay. Well, then, what do we do about it?"  
  
"Nothing, there is nothing we can do, but teach her to be her own person, we can get everything out of her except the smarts, memory, and strength."  
  
"Good, let's start with the smart alec stuff, right?"  
  
"Yes, of course. How do you propose we do that?"  
  
"She listens to everything I say, if I tell her not to do something, she won't do it. I'll tell her not to worry about good and evil, not to be a smart alec, and no magic, yet at least, until she can properly make up her mind about it, but I will have strict limitations on the magic used. How's that?"  
  
"Sounds good to me. Has she used any magic that you know of?"  
  
"When Riley came to the door, the lights went blinky, but that was it."  
  
"They did what?"  
  
"They went blinky, you know, on and off then back on."  
  
"Ah. Thank you for elaborating."  
  
"You're welcome."  
  
Buffy and Giles talked a while longer, then Buffy left, to pick her mother up from the doctors. 


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanx to everyone who reviewed! I love those who review! :o)  
  
The Hand Rocks the Cradle  
Chapter 2  
  
Xander walked into the elementary school, and down the hall to Gwen's classroom. When he got there, she was talking to a brown- eyed, brown- haired, serious- faced little boy. Gwen caught sight of Xander and pulled her new friend with her.  
"Xandew! Dis is my new fwiend, Angewus," said Gwen, excitedly.  
  
Xander crouched down to their eye level.  
  
"Hello, Angelus. I'm Xander."  
  
"Hi," Angelus managed to squeak.  
  
Gwen grabbed her things and Xander brought her home. The entire way there Gwen told Xander about all of her new friends: Angelus, Dani, Maple, Alex, Tina and Anna. Xander was surprised how much Gwen reminded him of Buffy.  
  
  
"And dere's dis weawwy mean bwonde boy, his name's Wiwwiam," said Gwen.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
Xander pulled up in front of the Summers household and brought Gwen inside. Buffy came down the stairs and Gwen ran into her outstretched arms. Xander and Buffy talked for a dew minutes before he left.  
  
"How was school?" asked Buffy.  
  
"Fun! I woved it!"  
Gwen pulled Buffy into the kitchen, as she launched into her detailed day. Gwen did her homework, ate a snack, then Buffy and Gwen planned Gwen's birthday party.  
  
"What day is your birthday?"   
  
"Octobew firtief."  
  
"That's a Sunday, so we'll have your party next Saturday, okay?"  
"Can it be a costume pawty?"  
  
Buffy nodded, and they worked on invitations. The next day, Gwen handed out the invitations to everyone in the class, coming upon William's last. She walked up to him.  
  
"Forgot mine, I suppose?" he drawled, his British accent not revealing anything but hate, and anger.  
He reminded her of Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter books.  
  
"Nope, it's right here," she said, handing him the white envelope.  
  
"Oh. I- I- I- I thought--"  
  
"You fought wong. I fink da onwy weason you don't have fwiends is cuz you buwwy evwy one, if you didn't do dat, you'd have wots and wots of fwiends. Why awe you so mean?"  
  
He looked at her and shrugged.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
She smiled at him, and he blushed slightly, without her noticing. Then, she left to go play with her friends. Throughout the week, children's parents called in to RSVP, everyone's but William's. Thursday and Friday, before the party, William wasn't at school, and no one but Gwen seemed worried. That night, Tara was over to watch Gwen as Buffy pattroled, but the phone rang, just as Buffy walked by it.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
Buffy heard the sound of screaming and glass shattering against a wall.  
  
"Hi. Is it too late to call in for the party?" asked the small voice on the phone.  
  
"No, of course not."  
  
"I want to come. This is William."  
  
Buffy heard more screaming, and slapping in the background.  
  
"Great! I'll tell Gwen."  
  
She then heard a man yelling at William to hang up the phone, then the line was disconnected. Buffy panicked, and called the police.  
  
"Gwen? What's William's last name?"  
  
"Willis, why?"  
  
Then Buffy called Xander to ask him to take over patrolling, and he agreed. A few hours later, someone knocked on the door, and Tara opened it, as a police officer walked in. Buffy invited him in the living room to sit down. He did so, taking off his hat in the process.  
  
"Miss Summers. I, as a father, would like to thank you. That man was about to kill his wife and son by the time we got there," said the police officer.  
  
"Oh God, are they okay?" asked Buffy.  
  
"The boy is, but his mom is in a coma, and not expected to wake up. The boy has no relatives, that we know of."  
  
"I'll take 'im," said Spike who had slipped in unnoticed. "I've met 'im. Spittin' image of me."  
  
"I don't know, Spike," said Buffy.  
"Why not?"  
  
"Well, for one thing--"  
  
"I know, I'll get better hours."  
  
"Spike!" said Gwen, running to him.  
  
"Hello, Little Bit."  
  
"I've got somefing to show you. Come wif me."  
  
He followed her into the dining room, and just as he walked in Tara began to chant. Spike fell to his knees as Gwen said something of her own. They stopped at the exact same time, and Spike stood up.  
  
"What did you do too me?" he asked.  
  
"Wemenbew when you towd me dat you wanted to be awive? Weww dat's what we did."  
"Wha--?"  
  
Gwen took a cross and put it to Spike's skin, noting happened.  
  
"Tawa! We did it!"  
  
Tara nodded, smiling. Spike walked over to Tara, and hugging her, pinning her arms to her sides and spinning her around. Then he went to Gwen, airplane spinning her. Gwen put a cross on a chain, around Spike's neck, and the two went back into the living room.  
  
"What did Gwen want to show you?" asked Buffy.  
  
"She gave me a cross to protect me, she said," said Spike, showing it to Buffy.  
  
The police officer stood up and faced Spike. Buffy's eyes got wide and her jaw dropped.  
  
"Kid must like you. I'll see what I can do about the boy, goodnight folks," he said, putting on his hat, and leaving.  
  
"How?" was all Buffy could say.  
  
"Tara and Gwen turned me human," said Spike.  
  
"Wow. Tara, you really are powerful."  
  
"I couldn't have done it without Gwen," said Tara, shyly.  
  
"Yes you could have. You just don't bewiwve in youwsewf."  
  
Tara smiled, hugged Gwen and left. The next day, Gwen and Buffy went shopping for a costume. They ended up getting matching costumes: Large, white wings; a white dress; and a gold halo. At 3:30, they were setting up for the party. Buffy was an Angel, Joyce was June Cleaver, Giles was himself, Dawn was the Devil, Xander was 'commando guy', Anya was Betty Bo Peep, Willow was a stereotypical witch, and Tara was a hippie. Spike walked up, dressed as a vampire, carrying a huge gift, and the first thing Gwen noticed about him was that he had a bandage on his head.  
  
"What happened?" asked Gwen.  
  
"Got that bloody chip out of my head, finally, that's what," said Spike.  
  
"Coow!"  
  
He laughed and put the large box on the table. Then, Gwen's friends arrived. Alex was an Army action figure, Maple was a sorceress, Angelus was a cowboy, Dani was Satan's wife, Tina was a the lead singer from Sweetwater, the sixties band, and Anna was a Mary, and she had a little lamb. By 4:15, almost everyone was there, all but one. Gwen searched through the crowd of first graders, looking. She found him leaning up against the tree in the corner of the yard.  
  
"Hi Wiwwiam," said Gwen.  
  
"Hullo. Happy Birthday."  
  
"Fanks, come wif me. I want you to meet someone."  
  
He followed her toward the teenagers/ adults section of the party. She stopped next to Spike,  
  
"Who is it?" asked William, trying to follow her.  
  
"Spike, dis is Wiwwiam, Wiwwiam, dis is Spike."  
  
"Hullo."  
  
"Hey. 'Member me, from the other night?"  
  
"Yeah. You saved me from that vampire. I was curious to know. Why save me from your own kind?"  
  
" 'M not a vampire anymore, mate. Gwen, and Tara here, fixed that problem."  
  
"Wow."  
  
"That's what I said. Hi I'm Buffy," said Buffy, getting down to his eye level.  
  
"You're the one who saved me and my mum, well, me at least."  
  
"I try."  
  
William smiled and Gwen pulled him to the party. The children danced, played and giggled until cake and presents. The girls got her the same thing: hair stuff and lotion, and the boy's moms got her the same thing: stuffed animals. Her friends didn't follow that pattern. Alex got her a charm bracelet with a bear, dollars, and a smiley face on it, Maple got her a necklace with an amethyst on the end, Tina got her a lilac scented candle, Anna got her a Harry Potter book, Dani got her a lock diary, and Angelus got her a snowglobe with an Angel inside, that looked exactly like Gwen, black hair and blue eyes. William pulled a small box from his pocket and handed it to Gwen. Alex eyed him carefully, not trusting him. Gwen gave Alex the 'stop that!' look and opened the box, revealing an emerald ring, with the gold on the sides coming up onto it, making some kind of Celtic markings, on a gold chain.   
  
"Wow," said Gwen, giving him a kiss on the cheek.  
  
He blushed and Joyce took a picture of the two. That night Spike convinced them to let Gwen spend the night with him and William.  
  
"Where, Spike? In your crypt?" said Buffy.  
  
"Y'know. You could have asked where I've been all day. I've been busting my butt. I got a job, a house, furniture, and a car. I'm doing all of this for William. I had a bit of money left over from tips and stuff. I bought the house, and the car is a company car. I'm turning into a family man, my God!"  
  
Buffy raised an eye brow at him.   
  
"Really, now?"  
  
He glared at her.  
  
"Yes, really. So, can the little bit stay with us tonight, or do you want me to wake you up really early?"  
  
"I don't see a problem with it. She talks about William all the time, they'll get along great," said Joyce, handing Spike Gwen's bag.  
  
Gwen, William and Spike got into his Jeep and Spike drove them a few streets over to a medium sized, white house with green shutters, door, and garage door. It had a long porch and a porch swing at the end. Inside, Gwen and William raced up to his room and the last one there had to change in the bathroom. It was a tie, so they did rock, paper, scissors, but William cheated to let her win. They changed into their pajamas and ran down to the living room to watch the movies Spike had gotten: "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns". When they fell asleep, Spike Carried them up stairs, one at a time, to the bunk beds in William's room. The next morning the two were up and ready by 7:30, waking Spike, who got ready, and got them into the car, they stopped for breakfast, and then Gwen and William fell asleep in the car. At about 9:45, Spike woke them up. William got up right away, but Gwen was a bit more stubborn.  
  
"Open your eyes Little Bit," coaxed Spike, gently.  
  
Gwen opened her eyes, got out of the car, and looked around.  
  
"Disneywand!"  
  
"Say 'l'" She said it. "Now say 'DisneyLand'"  
  
"Disneyland."  
  
"Good, now say 'girl.'"  
  
"Girl."   
"Good, let's go."  
  
They went in, Gwen and William had their pictures taken with Disney characters, got their autographs, by the time that was done, it was time for lunch. They ate lunch with the Princes and Princesses, who dressed the two children up as a prince and a princess. Then they walked around riding rides for a few more hours then headed back home. An hour and a half later, Spike pulled up in front of the Summers home. He got Gwen out of the car and up to the door, knocking with his foot. Dawn opened the door. He kicked off his shoes and carried a sleeping Gwen into her room, tucked her in, and kissed her on her forehead. Buffy stood at the door and watched. Spike stood up and Buffy ran to the other end of the hall to act as if she had just come up the stairs, as he came out of Gwen's room.  
  
"She's asleep," said Spike.  
  
"Okay. Good, have fun?"  
  
"Yeah, we all did. I've got to run. I left Will, in the car, asleep. Don't want to leave him there."  
  
He walked around her and out to his Jeep, started it up, and left. Buffy looked into Gwen's room, realizing that Gwen was the only one sleeping that night in the motherless household.  
  
A/N: Review! No flames, PLEASE! I don't like being criticized. If it's constructive criticism, please keep it positive. I hope you like! 


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